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Staff ReportsJune 14, 2017

Companies will now be required to promptly notify the Department of Environmental Protection of a pollution incident under a bill signed by Gov. Rick Scott. The so-called spill bill (SB 1018) requires companies to submit a notice of a reportable pollution release to the Department of Environmental Protection within 24 hours of the release. That […]

A.G. GancarskiJune 14, 2017

Gov. Rick Scott signed HB 477 on Wednesday, a bill that would subject opioid dealers whose toxic product killed the end user to murder charges. HB 477 targets fentanyl and similar drugs by adding them to the Schedule 1 classification, along with heroin, MDMA, LSD, and cannabis. The potential death penalty for traffickers already existed for cocaine, opium, […]

Jim RosicaJune 14, 2017

A new state senator who is also a prominent trial attorney is telling Gov. Rick Scott to veto a contentious education policy bill, saying it’s a brew of “bad policy” and “a textbook example of a failure in government transparency.” Sen. Gary Farmer, a Parkland Democrat, wrote a 2-page letter to Scott Tuesday on HB […]

Guest AuthorJune 14, 2017

Editor’s note: The op-ed below originally appeared on the award-winning blog, The Florida Squeeze. However, its editors took the op-ed down because it said it failed to meet that site’s editorial standards. “Although the tone of the piece was intended to be facetious and is based on what many believe to be reality, we were […]

Jenna Buzzacco-FoersterJune 13, 2017

The sponsor of a bill to implement the 2016 medical marijuana constitutional amendment said he is confident the state would prevail if sued over the proposal’s smoking ban. “We believe we will win that lawsuit,” said House Majority Leader Ray Rodrigues, who sponsored the House’s version of the medical marijuana implementing bill during both the […]

A.G. GancarskiJune 13, 2017

In Jacksonville, Florida Gov. Rick Scott took questions from local media, including some on the interesting role of being a diehard Donald Trump supporter at a time when his administration careens from scandal to scandal, and Senate hearing to Senate hearing — with embattled Attorney General Jeff Sessions taking the stand today. We asked Scott, who just formed a […]

A.G. GancarskiJune 13, 2017

Florida Gov. Rick Scott found his way to Jacksonville Beach Tuesday — his fifth stop of the day — to take a victory lap after a session where he ended up getting what he wanted. And by his side: Reps. Cord Byrd, Jason Fischer, and Travis Cummings — three State Reps. he pilloried as the State House panned his economic […]

Jenna Buzzacco-FoersterJune 13, 2017

Gov. Rick Scott isn’t showing his cards when it comes to a wide-sweeping and contentious education bill, despite rumblings he could sign the measure as early as this week. The Naples Republican said he is still reviewing the bill (HB 7069), which, among other things, creates a “Schools of Hope” charter school program backed by […]

Scott PowersJune 13, 2017

In one of the more biting moments in the 1997 film “Good Will Hunting,” mathematician Gerald Lambeau, played by Stellan Skarsgård, apologizes to his old friend, psychologist Sean Maguire, played by Robin Williams, for having missed the funeral of Sean’s wife. “I got your card,” Sean snapped, not at all disguising his anger. Did we […]

Associated PressJune 12, 2017

Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater is leaving his job at the end of the month. Atwater on Monday turned in his formal resignation letter to Gov. Rick Scott. Atwater announced back in February that he planned to step down from his elected post to take a position at Florida Atlantic University. In his letter, […]

Tag: Rick Scott
Gold Coast Eagle Distributing;s Javier Bermudez and Chad Fraser bring water to Helene victims in Bradenton. Image via Gold Coast.

Rick Scott signs pollution notification bill into law

Murder charges for fatal fentanyl dealers: now Florida law

Gary Farmer to Rick Scott: Veto ‘dreadful’ HB 7069

The op-ed Leslie Wimes apparently doesn’t want you to read

Ray Rodrigues: ‘We believe we will win’ suit over medical marijuana smoking ban

Rick Scott mum on Jeff Sessions testimony being bad for GOP brand

Local legislators laud Rick Scott in Jax Beach

Amid continued calls to veto HB 7069, Rick Scott says he is still ‘reviewing it’

Did Republican state and national leaders mail in their Pulse appearances?

CFO Jeff Atwater says he will leave June 30